Eternal Bonds
|Written By = Chris Manheim |Story By = |Teleplay By = |Directed By = Mark Beesley |Order in Series = 103 of 134 |Order in Season = 13 of 22 |Order in Franchise= 272 of 304 |Prev Episode in Series = "God Fearing Child" |Next Episode in Series = "Amphipolis Under Siege" |Prev Episode in Franchise = "God Fearing Child" |Next Episode in Franchise = "Amphipolis Under Siege" |title cap image = }} Joxer is struck by a poisoned blade and Gabrielle must take him to a Mandrake tree that holds the antidote. Summary Xena (with her newborn baby Eve) and Gabrielle, ride Argo and Amber through a torrential storm caused by the gods angered by Zeus' murder. Just as a tornado bares down on them, a mysterious hooded figure points the way to a cave. They race into the woods. Lightening hits a tree and fire falls all around them. They urge the horses through the flames, as the tornado follows them. Once inside, the girls discover Joxer and three Magi, who coincidentally were looking for Xena to congratulate her on her newborn. Joxer says he has been looking for them ever since he heard the baby was born. The Magi say they have been following a light, searching for Xena and offer gifts to Eve who "ushers in a new world without gods." Xena and Gabrielle accept the gifts as Xena says it would be rude not to accept them. One of them gives grain to nourish life and another gives fruit to sweeten her days, while the last gives oil from the sacred laurel. Xena kicks it out of her hand into a rock – laurel is sacred to Artemis. Their cover blown, the Magi fight Xena and Gabrielle they are defeated but not before Joxer gets cut. While Gabrielle takes Joxer to clean his wound, Ares, dressed in a hooded cape, appears before Xena. He tells her the Magi were priests of Artemis (Tira), Poseidon(Orcas) and Apollo (Tazor). Realizing Joxer's cut could be fatal if it was inflicted by one of Apollo's men, Xena dashes off before Ares can finish. Joxer and Gabrielle are at the stream. They argue a little bit, before Gabrielle says Eve has to be taken into consideration. Gabrielle tells Joxer he doesn't think and that she doesn't need his help. Xena comes up and looks at Joxer's wound. She says if it was Apollo's sword that cut Joxer, then Joxer has been poisoned and needs an antidote, the oil of a mandrake tree at the north end of the valley. Joxer says he hasn't been poisoned and walks off. Xena and Gabrielle argue about Gabrielle taking Joxer to the tree. Gabrielle doesn't want to leave Xena and Eve alone, but Xena insists that Joxer's life is on the line. She agrees and Xena and Eve set off in the opposite direction. At Artemis' temple, Artemis' Priestess Tira, Apollo's Priest Tazor and Poseidon's Priest Orcas conduct a human sacrifice to learn that their mission failed. As Xena nurses the baby, guards set off her early warning system and descend on them. Xena deftly wields her chakram with one hand and changes Eve's diaper with the other. A dirty diaper becomes a powerful weapon as it lands smack into a guard's face and diaper pins become effective as darts. As the last guard falls, Ares appears and once again professes his love and desire to help. Disgusted, Xena blows him off and disappears. On the trail, Gabrielle and Joxer have their own relationship discussions: Gabrielle blames Joxer's carelessness for putting them all in jeopardy and Joxer feels hurt that he gets criticized for trying to help his loved-ones. As the poison begins to weaken Joxer, the two make haste. Meanwhile, Xena dreams that Ares is pleading her forgivenes, but while talking one of Apollo's men tries to kill Eve. Xena throws her chakram while Ares casts a fireball at the warrior, killing him. Amazed that he saved Eve's life, Xena and Ares started kissing passionately, until she bolts awake. Disturbed by her dream, Xena continues to hack out her false trail before doubling back to join Gabrielle and Joxer at the tree. Gabrielle and Joxer run into a squad of Tira's female warriors. When accused of trespassing, Gabrielle offers that they were on their way to temple of Artemis and Joxer explains his condition by making up a story that they were attacked by Xena. Delayed on their quest, Joxer becomes increasingly feverish as Gabrielle temporarily leaves him to get water. While Xena awaits her companions, armies converge on her from all directions. Instinctively, Xena knew Ares is behind all these, as he appears in front of her. Claiming that every god on Mt.Olympusis is after Xena, he offers to fight them off and even be Eve's father if only Xena is willing to bare his child. As she refuses to give up her future, Ares replies even if it means sacrificing the lives of her friends, Joxer, Gabrielle, or Eve. And Ares left. Unwilling to sacrifice her future, Xena declines his offer and begins searching for her friends. Avoiding the army, Gabrielle returns to find Joxer hiding in a log. Delirious, Joxer asks why Gabrielle doesn't love him, to which she answers that she does love him--just not romantically. Joxer says Gabrielle makes him feel special. Gabrielle says he is special. She says she relies on him as a very good friend. With Eve's help, Xena sees a kite intended to signal her and locates Gabrielle and Joxer. The armies arrive and a huge battle ensues. Ares temporaily halts the action and restates his offer. He tells Xena that with one word, he could disperse the armies: and that dreams can become reality. Haunted by her dream, Xena refuses to budge in, saying that Ares is her nightmare. The fight resumes, with Ares leaving. Xena ties a rope around Eve and hoists her up in a tree. One of the warriors on a horse spies the baby in the tree, as do several other army leaders and they all go for the baby. Xena jumps up to get Eve but Ares does a somersault and gets the baby. He and Xena look at each other. He lets the baby go, letting the rope pull the child back into the tree. Xena is amazed when Ares decides not to hurt Eve and disappears. Their leaders killed, the armies finally retreat. Xena quickly gives Joxer the antidote, which restores his health. Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer lead the horses. Joxer and Gabrielle talk about how Gabrielle loves Joxer as a friend. He says he loves her more than that, but he'll just have to live with it. Xena calls Gabrielle over. They walk together. Xena wonders if it is wrong to expose a child to all the blood. Xena says it would be a greater wrong to never fight at all. Xena, Gabrielle and Eve, with Joxer trailing behind, walk off into the sunset. Disclaimer :Ares virility was harmed during the production of this motion picture. Background Information Behind the Scenes *Lucy recorded two tracks of Eve's lullaby and was furious when she discovered that they used the one that she thought was terrible in the episode. *There was discussion about Xena expressing some milk into the face of one of the priests attacking her while breastfeeding. But they decided a diaper in the face would be equally funny and less offensive. *Since the length of time that babies were allowed to be on the set was so little under New Zealand law, Lucy Lawless used to ask women with babies at the supermarket if they would like to be on . *Originally there was supposed to be a kiss between Gabrielle and Joxer in the scene right before Xena arrives with the antidote. Both Renee and Ted nixed this, saying that their characters wouldn't have done this. Key Events *This is the second time that Joxer has come close to death, the first being in "King Con". *Autolycus The King Of Thieves and a friend of Xena, Gabrielle, Hercules, Iolaus, Joxer, and Salmoneaus was mentioned by Xena in this episode. *Starting with this episode and onwards to the 6th and final season, there are no Hercules and Xena crossover episodes. Goofs *Having Gabrielle create a kite and fly it for Xena to find them wasn't a very smart idea, considering that the forces of three Olympian gods are hunting them down and there apparently wasn't anyone else in the area. Other *'Chakram Count': 3 #To take out one of the attacking warriors. #To cut the rope and suspend Eve in the air, protecting her from an attacking warrior. (Dream) #To take out a soldier and cut her arrow in half, killing another two soldiers. Memorable Quotations Cast * Lucy Lawless as Xena * Renee O'Connor as Gabrielle * Ted Raimi as Joxer * Kevin Smith as Ares * Natalie Duggan as Tira * Peter Sa'ena-Brown as Tazor * Matthew Dwyer as Orcas * Patrick Iwobi, Grant Boucher and Barbara Cartwright as the Three Magi Appearances and Mentions Mortals * Xena * Gabrielle * Eve * Joxer * Tira * Tazor * Orcas * Three Magi * Autolycus (mentioned) Deities * Ares * Artemis (mentioned) * Apollo (mentioned) * Poseidon (mentioned) * The Furies (mentioned) Places * Greece Other * Argo * The Furies (episode) * Ties That Bind * Twilight of the Gods Season Navigation de:Ewige Bande Category:XWP Season 5 episodes Category:Episodes Featuring Ares Category:Episodes Featuring Joxer